New York Cocaine Trafficker Sentenced to More Than Seven Years in Federal Prison

February 16, 2010 - Nora R. Dannehy, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JOSE RODRIGUEZ, also known as “Felo,” 37, of East 224th Street, the Bronx, New York, was sentenced today by Senior United States District Judge Ellen Bree Burns in New Haven to 87 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release. On November 12, 2009, RODRIGUEZ pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, five kilograms or more of cocaine.

This matter stems from “Operation Quiet Corner,” a 12-month, FBI and Connecticut State Police investigation into a drug trafficking organization operating primarily in northeastern Connecticut. The investigation, which included the use of confidential informants, controlled purchases of drugs and court-authorized telephone wiretaps, revealed that Kenneth Gould, Jr. of Putnam and Carlos Rodriguez of Hartford and Putnam pooled their money to purchase kilogram quantities of cocaine from JOSE RODRIGUEZ and others, and then distributed the drugs to numerous customers in northeastern Connecticut, in the Hartford area, and in other New England states.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on February 23, 2008, JOSE RODRIGUEZ and Johanna Alverio drove from New York to deliver two kilograms of cocaine to Gould and Carlos Rodriguez at Gould’s residence on River Road in Putnam. In the days that followed, Gould communicated frequently with JOSE RODRIGUEZ and Alverio to negotiate another large purchase of cocaine and, on March 13, 2008, JOSE RODRIGUEZ and Alverio agreed to deliver five kilograms of cocaine to Gould for a price of $26,500 per kilogram.

Based on intercepted communications, on March 13, law enforcement investigators set up surveillance along Route 395 northbound in Connecticut, and JOSE RODRIGUEZ and Alverio were stopped by the Connecticut State Police (“CSP”) for a motor vehicle violation. Alverio was driving, JOSE RODRIGUEZ was in the front passenger seat, and their two daughters were in the back of the car. After Alverio consented to a search of the car, a narcotics-sniffing dog alerted to the presence of drugs in certain areas of the vehicle. Because investigators believed that the car contained a hidden compartment, or “trap,” to hide narcotics, the vehicle was towed to the CSP Troop E barracks for further inspection. The following day, investigators searched the car and found five separate kilogram packages of cocaine in a hidden compartment. JOSE RODRIGUEZ and Alverio were subsequently arrested.

On April 9, 2008, a federal grand jury returned an Indictment charging JOSE RODRIGUEZ, Alverio, Gould, Carlos Rodriguez and 18 other individuals with various offenses related to the distribution of cocaine, crack cocaine and marijuana.

Alverio, Gould and Carlos Rodriguez have pleaded guilty to cocaine distribution charges. On September 1, 2009, Carlos Rodriguez was sentenced to 188 months of imprisonment. Alverio and Gould await sentencing.

This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Statewide Cooperative Crime Control Task Force and the Statewide Organized Crime Investigative Task Force of the Connecticut State Police, with assistance from the Hartford Police Department and Connecticut State Police, Troop D. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Geoffrey M. Stone of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.